affiliation

noun

af·​fil·​i·​a·​tion ə-ˌfi-lē-ˈā-shən 

plural affiliations

: the state or relation of being closely associated or affiliated with a particular person, group, party, company, etc.

The radio station has maintained a longtime affiliation with the concert hall and often has featured performers as guests on the air.

A former Democrat, Joseph McCarthy had switched his affiliation and was elected in the Republican landslide of 1946 …

—Ted Widmer

… hundreds of businessmen owe their success to an affiliation with organized crime.

—William Bastone

Synonyms of affiliation

• association
• partnership
• relationship
• collaboration
• cooperation
• connection

Examples of affiliation in a Sentence

the Little League team, despite its name, the Northern Dynamites, has no affiliation with the Northern Dynamite Company

Recent Examples on the Web

While political affiliations may change the composition of a governing body, our fundamental responsibilities do not change. — Courier-News, Chicago Tribune, 6 Nov. 2026

One can treat it as an indelible feature of human psychology, an unavoidable by-product of our appetite for simplicity and affiliation. — Paul Bloom, New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2026

Kornacki, a national political correspondent for NBC News, does not make his political affiliations public. — José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 5 Nov. 2026

Given her affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America, Roy’s stances on litigation involving the Los Angeles Police Department could also depart from her predecessors’. — Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1791, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for affiliation

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation